Series II Challenge Coins: Update 5

And now a message from Jack. The short version is, he’s working on it. Some of you need to quit yelling at him. -Larry 

Jack Wylder here, updating as requested on the progress of the coins.
I apologize in advance if this sounds like I’m making excuses- I’m not. This is an explanation of the behind the scenes sausage making and might help explain why while many other have, *you* haven’t gotten your coins yet.
The idea behind this was that we could offer Larry’s fans something cool they could enjoy and show off to their friends, while making a few bucks for ourselves on the side. We were very upfront at the beginning of how the process goes: Design phase, Ordering phase, Production phase, Fulfillment phase. The first two phases went swimmingly. Oh sure there were some hiccups on the back end side of things, but smoothly enough. We had some hold ups last time on the coins (I think it took 4-5 months last time just to get the coins) so we learned from our experiences and this time had the production of coins done in about 6 weeks. (Great job, Brenda!) The lighters were the hold up this time, but even that just put us a few weeks behind. Fulfillment IS going slower than anticipated (I was unemployed when we kicked this off) but still within the predicted time frame (allowing for the delay with the lighters). This coming Monday is the big push- I have several stay at home mothers who are coming over to help me pack orders (and make themselves some extra cash for Christmas) as we had planned. Still, I am bombarded by the question daily “where are my coins??”
That’s probably a good place to stop reading if you’re just looking for an update. Production set us slightly behind schedule, but we’re pushing hard and hope to have all orders shipped in time for Christmas. You’ll get an email with a tracking number when yours is ready to ship and you’ll be able to track it through the system. Thank you for your support!

Ok so here’s the exciting behind the scenes snapshot of my life right now that explains why you haven’t gotten yours yet:
Up at 4:30am, out of the house by 5:15am-5:30am
Get to work sometime between 6-6:30am
Leave work 3-3:30ish, home about 4:30pm-5:30pm (depending on traffic)
Dinner/family time 5:30/6:00pm- 6:30pm/7:00ish
Bath time with my son 7:00-7:30pm
Pack coins 7:30-8:30pm
Time with my wife/watch a show while packing coins 8:30-9:30
9:30-10:00 pass out
rinse lather repeat M-F
On a good day I might get 10-20 orders packed. I had north of 700 or so when we began so yours is no doubt in there somewhere.
Weekends: cub scouts, family time, volunteering at the church, honey-dos, packing coins, and occasionally attempting to do something non-mandatory. There was also a pretty important business trip in there that took up a week of time.
Want to know how I spent my 45th birthday? I had a nice lunch with my family and… packed coins all day.
First day off from work in like three months- guess how I spent it? Organizing the spreadsheet so I can actually print the labels instead of hand writing them like I have been. The postal system doesn’t like first and last name being joined in one cell which is of course how Shopify exports so it’s not quite as easy as you might think. Fortunately I have a boss who is a friggin wizard when it comes to Excel- on top of that he’s a member of the Monster Hunter Nation so he’s bent over backwards to help me with this. (David, I owe ya big!)
I’ve had the final components I need to be able to start shipping for about a month, so the shipping portion of the show has NOT been going on that long.
Here’s the extra bit on top of that list that helps me fill in any “free” moments I might find: answering the emails. Oh the emails. Here’s what the emails look like in a normal week:
1 person writing to thank me for the awesome coins.Thank you! You make the project worth doing.
16 people politely inquiring as to the status of their coins. Fair enough, although like I said I’ll update as soon as there’s anything worth updating besides ‘still packing- yours is coming up at some point.’
37 people asking why they can’t order patches. Again- the store is closed until these are all done. I am NOT taking new orders while frantically trying to fill these existing ones. (First rule when you find yourself in a hole: stop digging!)
8-15 people sending one line emails like ‘where are my coins?!’ or ‘its been three months and I want my coins!’ ‘Are you shipping my coins or do I have to call a lawyer?’ or my favorite- ‘I’m copying Larry on this so he can set his employee straight!’ Let me clue you in here folks, Larry is more my partner than my boss on this. Larry and I go way back (back before he was Larry F Correia, NYT Best Selling Author and ILoH- back when he was just Larry.) Part of our deal is that I handle this so Larry can write. Interrupting his writing to tell him you’re not happy isn’t productive- the most you will possibly inspire is on our next phone call he *might* ask me what the deal was with that one jackass who had to email him and you might possibly delay his next book ever so slightly. I am severely tempted to just start automatically refunding any orders from people like this. I have a waiting list of people who would be happy to take these orders in your place.
I have to balance all of this with the fact that a) I genuinely respect and even like a majority of the Monster Hunter Nation and take a lot of satisfaction with having them pleased with the results of a project and b) even those I don’t necessarily like are b1) paying customers and b2) fans of one of my closest friends and I REALLY don’t want to screw that up for him- if ever there was a person who deserves their success it’s Larry.
So there ya go, folks. That’s as complete of an update as I can possibly give you. I’m working on getting you your coins, but I don’t have a magic wand or a shipping department to do my bidding. I promise you I will get these to you just as quickly as I can and that I want all orders filled much, much more than anyone else.
Happy Holidays and I’ll let you know how Monday goes…

JP Enterprises is now offering MHI and MCB logo AR-15 lower receivers.
For your Christmas Shopping on Amazon, think of it as a Tip Jar

67 thoughts on “Series II Challenge Coins: Update 5”

  1. Thank you for the update. I am happy to know what is going on and have no problem waiting. The product is worth it to me. Thank you for all the work you have put into this project to make us fans estatic.

    1. Ditto. And Jack thank your family for putting up with this craziness. Don’t miss out on your family holiday time because of the coins. They are awesome and we will all forget how long it took to get them once we have them. We trust you Jack. Hang in there.

  2. Things like this are why I am just patiently waiting for my coins to turn up in the mail whenever they get here.. Thanks, Jack, for spearheading this mess so I can happily get set two to go with my set one

  3. Jack, I only remember I ordered these when you send out an update. I just wait patiently because I know life is more than my self-gratification.

    1. Yeah. Me too. I only remember these when Jack posts something. Then I think … Oh hell yeah… I’ve got some cool… (half-way unexpected) stuff coming …. sometime soonish.
      Hooooooon

  4. Thanks for the updates, Jack. As long as we know you haven’t taken all of the money (that you haven’t collected yet 🙂 ) and flown to Argentina, we’re good.

    Thanks for your hard work!

      1. Jack didn’t post about this, because it is more a pain in his ass than mine, but Paypal collected your money. Then they locked the account and wouldn’t let us withdraw it because of risk. I didn’t actually get anybody’s money from Paypal until right before Thanksgiving. And that took a whole lot of effort, phone calls, and finally me playing Don’t You Know Who I Am? with one of their Risk Managers (kind of funny story I’ll have to tell some time). So the actual production of the challenge coins was paid for out of my pocket. Luckily, I was in a position to do so and it wasn’t a big deal. I can’t imagine how most small businesses doing preorders deal with Paypal.

        1. I didn’t know that. Sounds like PayPal is making out like a bandit by operating this way. Thanks again, Larry and Jack.

          1. It is. When a business that doesn’t have a long track record with them gets a bunch of money, they lock the whole thing because of risk. People can ask for their money to be charged back like on a credit card, and if the company took the money out already, then Paypal would be liable. But in this case, they don’t lock a percentage, they lock the whole amount. Then they don’t unlock it until you provide them with proof of delivery. Not a percentage, provide proof of shipping for one unit, and they’ll unlock that one unit.

            So let’s say that a company uses Paypal for a preorder, and the idea is that the cash inflow will be used to manufacture the product, and hypothetically they take in 50 grand. But before they can manufacture, Paypal locks the 50k. Now that company is stuck. They can’t make the stuff because they can’t pay for it. They can’t provide proof of delivery before they manufacture it. Doesn’t matter what the deal was or if the consumers knew the deal going in, Paypal locks the money.

            Then Paypal then collects interest on it for up to 180 days, before they have to release it. Only by that point the project will have inevitably failed, and the customers have all asked for their money back. And Paypal still collected interest on whatever was in there.

            I was in a position where I could just write a check and cover the manufacturing of all the coins. Most small businesses aren’t going to be in that position, so businesses need to be aware of that before they use Paypal to collect money from customers.

  5. Hey, I’m just as impatient as the next guy, but it’ll get done when it gets done – You’ve said before that you guys don’t get paid until the order is fulfilled, and you’ve also stressed how manhour-intensive this is.
    At least it’s not the 6 month plus timeframe the first coins caused

  6. As someone who hasn’t gotten their coins yet, I just want to copy Larry when I say “THANK YOU” for all the effort you have to put in on getting these orders fulfilled. I just think it’s frickin’ awesome to be able to get these coins, and I’m darn glad I was able to get in on the first round on Kickstarter. Thanks for the update, and it’s awesome to find out your new boss is a member of the MHN.

    1. I also thought that was a pretty sweet thing to read =D

      And chiming in on the Thank You to the wonderful folks here and working for Larry =D

  7. you’re awesome Jack! Thank you and we know that you are doing your utmost best to fulfill the massive amount of orders.

  8. You can stick mine in the back of the queue if it helps, but I’m guessing that looking for my order would just create more work…

    I’d kind of like to have them before Christmas, because some are presents, but it’s not like Christmas will be ruined if I have to give them out in January.

  9. I had actually been wondering where my patches were, and I even sent an email about it. Then I found this. Oops. Keep at it, but make sure not to burn yourself out. I can wait.

    I just want my Wendell patch before Cruz inevitably announces him as his VP running mate. Then they’ll be sold out forever. Cruz/Wendell 2016!

  10. As long as you manage an update now and then it’s cool.
    I don’t want to wait of course, but sitting a bit longer before I get to show them off isn’t going to hurt me, and I’d feel rather bad if I knew it was hurting you trying to satisfy my rabid fanboy urges.

  11. I had totally forgot about the coins. I even have one of them freaking tattooed on me. Thanks for the reminder if joys to come and an update on how it’s going! ❤️

  12. Seriously. Some people need to calm the fuck down. He could have been packing coins instead of responding to your whining. ;). Yes I’m being fecicious.

    Take your time man. I can wait for my coins. And so can they. 😀

  13. Thank you for all of the hard work. I know the coins will arrive, so I’m not going to sweat it. One step at a time, when time allows.

  14. Jack, please have a birthday re-do. You deserve the whole day with your family, not just lunch. You took on a huge project and I appreciate everything you’ve done.

  15. *sympathizes* Life is hectic over on my end of the planet so I can definitely understand how you feel! (On the upside, a Dutch release of one of our books just went out a few days ago; yay! My sleep is wrecked: boo. But still yay!)
    Also it’s Christmas shipping season. I don’t think that helps on the postal rush. Lots of yikes there.

  16. Care to see how overdue some of my kickstarters are? You are nowhere near late as far as I’m concerned. Take care of your job and family. They’ll still be important after you’ve shipped the coins. Treat them that way.

  17. Wow, I’m sorry you have to put up with all that, Jack, and I’m impressed at your perseverance.

    Sounds like a lot of people are too used to Amazon and the like, receiving items days after putting in the order for them. People need to realize that not everyone is Amazon. I bought something from a small company last November (I think it was), and we’re talking an actual company whose main purpose is to sell the items in question, and they were so swamped with orders that I didn’t get them until like the next April, when I’d hoped to give them as Christmas presents. You know, it happens. There are realities of life and manpower and reasonable time constraints. Just chill, y’all.

  18. After this, get a life by spending real quality time with your family. They are very important . No special projects for now. Enjoy the holidays . You deserve it and you are worth it. Seriously, while I like my coins to be in my hands as soon as you are able, my concern are some of the kickstarter projects that I had supported are seriously overdue especially a pair of dice and some pastries ( a year late for both of them as well as serious communication issues).
    Thanks for the update.

  19. If there were hoppers full of coins in a Hong Kong warehouse ready to send out by China Post or DHL (which is where some of Amazon’s and eBay’s products come from) then yeah, I’d be annoyed with the delay. But these are custom made coins, manufactured in a small run, being shipped by enthusiastic hobbyists. Patience is obligatory.

    Although I’d remind Jack of the First Rule of Frisbee: “Never say anything more predictive than ‘Watch this!'” No matter how many conditions, qualifications, and other CYA language you use, if you say “I’ll try to have it done by Christmas” there will be people who will only hear “I’ll… have it done by Christmas, or else they’ll be free.” Trust me on this. I work for these people.

  20. The solution seems obvious. Tell the numbnuts that Larry is getting angry and he knows where they live. Kind of like Krampus.

  21. Color me a non-stressed person in waiting. I figure if you’re using a spreadsheet it will take longer to throw mine to the back, but I figure they will get here when they get here. Appreciate that you are doing this even now that you are gainfully employed. Glad too that you are spending some precious time with your family.

  22. What do you think the chances would be of perhaps getting a small mintage of copper or silver rounds as part of the next run?

    1. Alas, you can’t. This second set of coins was a once and done thing unless they wind up with leftovers from Jack cancelling grumpy peoples’ orders. I missed the first set of coins and am still regretting it.

  23. “…a) I genuinely respect and even like a majority of the Monster Hunter Nation…”

    When I see things like that, I have the sudden urge to take the Lord’s name in vain – in a long, drawn out way with a southern accent – and ask, “Just exactly what else I have to do to be as evil and hated as Larry. For crying out loud, do you have any idea at how hard I work at this? All of this doesn’t just happen on its own, damn it!”

    Thanks for taking on this project and doing all the heavy lifting, Jack. I’ll just be over in the corner, patiently waiting delivery of my order and grumbling about my evilness being totally unappreciated.

    1. Just received my shipping confirmation e-mail (as in seconds ago). Now, where do I file a complaint about Jack and Larry failing to invent a teleportation device to instantly transport my order to my house?

  24. Hi, Jack. I appreciate the update. I had started to wonder but assumed you were still swamped with packing so held off on trying to contact you.

    Some of the confusion may have been an inadvertent expectation problem. Earlier postings made it sound like things would be going out in October, and I recall one statement about buyers remaining alert and not waiting months to report they hadn’t arrived. I thought the Mom Brigade was being pressed into service all along.

    Now that I know you’ll send an email with a tracking number, I’m all good. Take your time. I wasn’t planning to give them out for Christmas and won’t even be around over the holidays. Take care.

  25. I travel a lot for work. So not having my coin as proof of my conditional PUFF exemption is a real concern for me.

  26. Wait wait wait… there are people stupid enough to have give Larry their home address and be dicks to his friends at the same time??

    Not exactly top tier operators.

    Press on and ignore the riff raff Jack.. Great work.

  27. Thank you for the update, Jack. I really appreciate you taking on such a huge project and wish it wasn’t causing so many hassles. As far as I’m concerned, my goodies will get here when they get here. I’m not bothered about the timeframe at all, and while it probably isn’t practical you’re welcome to leave my order until last, after you’ve had a break and a chance to relax (seriously; if it’s quick to pick it out via my email address go for it). I like Sherry’s suggestion of a 45th birthday do-over and hope you can take a good long break soon. All the best from Down Under.

  28. Excellent, update! Thank you for all the hard work on top of”Life”
    I wish you the happiest holiday season, and thank your family for the loan of your time. #LightAtTheEndOfTheTunnel, #DontGoIntoTheLight

  29. Thanks for the update and all your hard work, Jack! Don’t listen to the complainers; remember, we WrongFans love you, and we can wait.! 😀

  30. That awesome moment when you check your email and find the notification and your tracking number for your MHI challenge coin order…

  31. I did not find out about the books till it was to late to, awesome books by the way but i really hope you offer more, and maybe a relaunching of the ones i missed

  32. So, late Sunday night, I check my email which I’ve not done since Thursday. “SHIPPED” it says, and I check the tracking. “ARRIVED AT LOCAL POST OFFICE” it says, and so I know they’re almost in my greedy paws. Check this morning? “DELIVERED TO INDIVIDUAL” Yay!!…. wait, what?

    It’s just the USPS not really having a selection for “delivered to USPS bin for pickup”, since my work has a local parcel service get our bins of mail for us. (I’m the mail room, of course.)

    So, tomorrow…

    1. And since I’m a dolt and forgot to add it, a massive “HOOOOOOON!” of thanks to Jack and the MHI Shipping Horde!

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